Aer Lingus Boarding

IrishAir98

flying on EI 276 from DUB - BHX on friday the 24th and sitting in 3F which is a choice seat. as Aer Lingus start boarding from the back of the aircraft im wondering do they let choice passengers board last or first? Thanks

L1011

No. Gold Circle members and passengers needing assistance (with small kids basically) may board with the first group if they wish. From memory that's in the second group.

goingnowhere

Rows 20-29 which boards first (D), then rows 1-6 (A) for an Airbus 320

The boarding order is zone D, A, C, B i think.

Beyond Cork/Shannon/Dublin/Belfast/JFK/MCO/BOS/ORD the whole board by zone thing goes out the window really and it is 16-29 then 1-15 if lucky

Gold circle are not always invited to board in the first group (that said if you have a gold circle card just rock up), sometimes those needing assistance are boarded first before anyone else.

Main reason for charging for 1-6 is the quick exit upon arrival, 12/13 for the extra leg room

SHOVELLER

For the first time I had paid for a breakfast upfront so got the email stating bring the printout and hand it to the cabin crew.

Boarded and attempted to hand it to the chap and he says "dont worry about it".

I wasnt worried at all but it wasnt a subpoena I was trying to give you.

L1011

SHOVELLER wrote: »

For the first time I had paid for a breakfast upfront so got the email stating bring the printout and hand it to the cabin crew.

Boarded and attempted to hand it to the chap and he says "dont worry about it".

I wasnt worried at all but it wasnt a subpoena I was trying to give you.

I suspect he meant "we have it on the passenger manifest and don't need proof" realistically. As that has been my experience of using the prebooking also.

Strumms

yes with the prebooked meals they just come down to your seat and hand it too you never been asked for the printoff but always have it just in case because it will be the one time !

Patrickheg

Not a fan of the first 3 rows as there is less bag storage in those rows so if you don't board early you may have to put your bags a few rows back which means it's not too easy to make a quick exit as you'll have to be a dic and push back against the crowd. Added to the fact that gold circle members often take those seats mean baggage storage is taken up early.

Gold circle is flip all help either. Why can't they have a separate line for their frequent fliers. Usually go for row 5 myself as it's less stressful

Strumms

I'm a 6A man myself.

keith16

Strumms wrote: »

I'm a 6A man myself.

Give me 14D any day of the week.

L1011

2C, no luggage of any description, in the car (or train at Gatwick) before the people in 29 have got off the plane

Arbiter of Good Taste

I'm 6D, or 6C if I have to

Dublinflyer

34c is my preference......

kevinandrew

I like 2A, usually the first two/three sets of overhead lockers are closed during initial boarding to reserve space for passengers sitting in 1-5 and opened up when they board towards the end, works quite well unless there's loads of hand baggage and the cabin crew have to use every available corner!

The very last rows are good for short UK flights, usually empty so despite the lack of recline there still feels like plenty of space. Aer Lingus cabin crew tend to be reasonably quiet back there as well, nowhere near as noisy gossiping to each other or loud preparing the on board service as they've been on my recent BA flights.

At airports that use the stairs to board it's always quicker at the back, usually the rear steps arrive first so you're off before someone in row 5 despite sitting at the back.

oak5548

Well I dont care where I sit as long as I have a window seat

I'm one of those people who stay seated until 95% of the plane is empty :pac:

Yamanoto

13A usually.

It kinda p1sses me off that GC priority boarding is handled so inconsistently.

Good on TATL but an absolute afterthought on short-haul and utterly non-existent out of continental airports.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

fits

No its not.. I think the more they differentiate themselves from ryanair the better. If they would bring back free checked baggage that would eliminate the problem. Just booked a BA flight in preference to EI yesterday cos I'm sick of them. Frequent traveller for work in coach class.

goingnowhere

Yamanoto wrote: »

13A usually.

It kinda p1sses me off that GC priority boarding is handled so inconsistently.

Good on TATL but an absolute afterthought on short-haul and utterly non-existent out of continental airports.

Agree but regardless of the boarding call, rock up as soon as boarding is called present the boarding card and the GC card and on you go.

At outstations its not EI staff and thats the problem. That said where you board by airstairs no point to control boarding as you can board front/back.

I'll take EI's approach any day compared to the US where even with medium status you are down in boarding group 4 or 5, in the time it takes to list the rules you could have boarded most of the plane

Yamanoto

goingnowhere wrote: »

Agree but regardless of the boarding call, rock up as soon as boarding is called present the boarding card and the GC card and on you go.

Only problem with that is you'll often get folks who've begun queueing a good 10 mins before the gate agent picks up their mike. Realistically, you're not gonna make your way past them, even if you're entitled to do so.

goingnowhere wrote: »

I'll take EI's approach any day compared to the US where even with medium status you are down in boarding group 4 or 5, in the time it takes to list the rules you could have boarded most of the plane

I boarded in group 2 on AA with BA/Bronze in MSP last week & seem to get on Delta & UA quick enough with KL/Silver & A3/Gold respectively.

Very rarely been upgraded on US domestic sectors though, as almost every flight is well populated by their own programmes elites.